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In Miller’s world, Superman and Batman embody two polar views of the human condition. Superman believes in the perfectibility of man and the eventual triumph of the City of God over the City of Man. Batman does not. In fact, he views even the City of Man as a tenuous achievement, and one which must be constantly defended against the depredations of human nature. He believes in the Enlightenment, but not in its inevitability. And because of this, he believes that an übermensch such as Superman is at least as much a threat to civilization as he is its savior.

This pairing is satisfying in a way that a team-up using the Nolan Batman could not be. Christopher Nolan’s Batman exists in a very different universe than Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. A movie that sought to bring them together would struggle for coherence, because Nolan’s Batman would ultimately welcome a Superman. Yet a Superman-Batman movie must have tension between the two characters if it’s going to have anything interesting to say.

So while the Nolan Batman is an interesting creation—and was used, in the Dark Knight trilogy, in service of two very Big Ideas—he will have to be jettisoned if the Superman-Batman movie is going to work. The good news is that Snyder's announcement suggests he intends to do just that.